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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27647845">Too Long/Too Short</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ficworm_11/pseuds/Ficworm_11'>Ficworm_11</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Estrangement, Gen, Not A Fix-It, Post-Episode: s15e20 Carry On, Sam Winchester is Older Than Dean Winchester, Season/Series 15, Time is Different in Heaven</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:07:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>567</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27647845</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ficworm_11/pseuds/Ficworm_11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>SPOILERS FOR SERIES FINALE!</p><p> </p><p>Dean died yesterday, except that he died thirty-two years ago.<br/>And thirty-two years is a long time, long enough to change many things, to weaken someone's memory and erase some details about loved-ones, long enough to change someone's behavior and bury old habits.<br/>But is it long enough to change brothers to strangers?<br/>And is an eternity in heaven long enough to bring a relationship back to what it once was?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dean Winchester &amp; Sam Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Too Long/Too Short</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The newly-reunited brothers stood next to each other on the bridge enjoying the magnificent scenery in front of them. Well only one of them was, the other one who had just arrived at heaven was just looking at his brother next to him, Dean noticed Sam's weird looks.</p><p>"What?" He asked.</p><p>"um...nothing you're just...uh...too short...shorter than I remember" Sam answered and smiled awkwardly.</p><p>Dean took Sam's smile as a smirk so he gave Sam an annoyed glare.</p><p>"well, you're still a smartass just like I remember, bitch" Dean made sure he sounded annoyed but his voice carried a softer amused tone</p><p>"I wasn't trying to be a smartass'' Sam answered his voice devoid of amusement.</p><p> he sounded almost apologetic, and he didn't reply with jerk as Dean anticipated.</p><p>Dean looked at Sam's face and didn't see a hint of snark, he only saw honesty and confusion...and that weird look that made Sam look like he was checking him out.</p><p>"Dude quit looking at me like that, I am not interested" Dean tried humor again. And failed.</p><p>"What?!...oh sorry, I just....you look... different" Sam stammered.</p><p>Dean furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.</p><p>"Wait. You really Don't...How...How long-" Dean didn't get the chance to complete his question as Sam quickly answered:</p><p>"thirty-one Years, almost thirty-two" He said while his eyes filled with tears.</p><p>Sam looked at Dean with his teary eyes and smiled sadly, Dean looked at his brother's face astonished, his shock was partially due to the fact that it had been thirty-two years since he died, but mostly because while Sam didn't even accurately remember his height, he himself remembered the sad look on Sam's face right then with all it's details as if he saw it yesterday, yeah, right he did see that see that face before he died YESTERDAY.</p><p>"Time does work differently here" Dean said and then nodded remembering Bobby's words. </p><p>"How long Have you been here?" Sam asked his still glinting with unshed tears.</p><p>"I have been driving for under a couple of hours"</p><p>Sam just nodded then looked away to wipe his tears as if Dean was a stranger who shouldn't see him cry, as if Dean wasn't the Guy who had wiped these tears himself before.</p><p>Dean approached Sam and gripped his shoulders making Sam look at him again, then they just stared at each other, neither of them spoke a word.</p><p>Dean didn't know what to say. He really wanted Sam to grow old, die while in his sixties or seventies after having lived his life to the fullest, but he didn't know that that would mean that Sam would forget him, forget how he looked like, or forget his height.</p><p>This was Sam, yes, but not the Sam he left yesterday, no, this was Sam who had lived a whole life Dean still didn't know anything about. Did this Sam remember all the details of their life together like Dean did? Did this Sam still love Dean like Dean still loved him?</p><p>Was this Sam looking at Dean through his little-brother eyes Dean remembered or was he looking at Dean through his old-man-in-his-sixties eyes, that man he had been before he died?</p><p>What did Sam see when he looked at Dean? Was it the older brother he remembered from thirty-two years ago? Or was it a young stranger in his forties?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading ❤</p><p>The series finale was not happy by any means, it was tragic. And I have mixed feeling about it, these feelings somehow gave birth to this short fic.</p><p> I mean I was happy for Sam for having a life with a wife and a kid, but, it kinda didn't make sense to me after what he had been through, I felt that Sam won't be emotionally and psychologically capable of living that life for that long after all his family was dead and his stone number one was gone. I expected him to die quickly after Dean on a hunt, it would have been cruel I know but for some reason I find it more fitting, for the person he grew to be over the last fifteen years, than living apple-pie life for thirty years.</p><p>I expected Dean's death, but didn't see it coming so soon, I would have preferred it if the boys had more time together on earth, spend a few years hunting monsters together like the old days and work through the issues that were never mentioned again on the show, I know they have eternity to do that together now, but will they be the same after all these years?</p><p>And I was sad that Cass didn't appear.</p><p>Anyways that was how I felt about the finale, and even if I didn't like some parts it still remains a good episode with some great parts (Bobby),  it also is a part of one of the greatest shows on TV, how did you guys find it?</p><p>And how did you find this story? I might come back and make a series out of this later because it shouldn't be left here, but I am not promising anything in the near future.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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